


Cassandra

by LionessOnYourBack



Series: Cassandra [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, Steve and Bucky aren't really in it, Tumblr Prompt, eventually, i can't believe i'm posting this, marvel's character's are only mentioned in passing, steve and bucky will be in it, they are catalysts for the OC, until they're not, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-02 06:10:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4049182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LionessOnYourBack/pseuds/LionessOnYourBack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Looking back Dorothea Priam wouldn’t remember what drew her attention to the report Stark Industries published the summer she turned 13.  As far as she knew from her parents these Arctic expeditions had always been going on.  Well, since the second World War, but that’s forever for a 13 year old.  She does remember looking up at her parents after reading about the expedition having failed again and asking, “why do they say they’ve failed again?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue:  The girl who could find dead people

**Author's Note:**

> Shanology over on tumblr posted something, I reblogged and made a comment, they reblogged and said I should write it. I might be a little OCD with character creation and the idea had already been working around in my head after I had made my comment.
> 
> So here, have a thing...
> 
> Also, http://archiveofourown.org/works/4049242 here is the explanation for Dorothea's ability
> 
> This might get a continuation...

Cassandra

~Blessed to know the future, cursed so that no one will believe her~

Prologue: The girl who could find dead people

Looking back Dorothea Priam wouldn’t remember what drew her attention to the report Stark Industries published the summer she turned 13. As far as she knew from her parents these Arctic expeditions had always been going on. Well, since the second World War, but that’s forever for a 13 year old. She does remember looking up at her parents after reading about the expedition having failed again and asking, “why do they say they’ve failed again?”

Her father had looked at the SI report, smiled and said, “Stark Industries has been looking for Captain America since the end of the War because it’s what Howard Stark wanted.”

“Why?”

“So they can lay him to rest properly, sweety,” her mother had said as she’d moved to stand behind her father.

Dorothea had looked back down at the report for a moment and then back up at her parents and simply said, “but it’s not time to find the Captain yet.” She’d gotten up from the table, leaving the report behind and had gone outside to play, leaving her parents behind and a bit bewildered.

When school started back up that following September Dorothea’s grades in History were suddenly some of her best unlike the previous year when they had been some of her worst. Her parents and teachers seemed pleased that she was doing better and didn’t question it. 

Dorothea had started looking up things on her own after the expedition article and the first Date had appeared in her head. She didn’t really understand it, but she knew that it was connected to the Captain and she thought it was a good thing. All the articles and books she’d found at the library told such amazing stories about him and his Howling Commandos. When she had gotten to Sargent James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes though more Dates lit up in her mind, an entire list of them. It made no sense to her at all, if these Dates were like the Captain’s Date then that would mean that…

She’d sat up straighter in her seat in the library and started to look up the Dates and that is how she’d ended up learning about things in history that hadn’t mattered before.

As the school year progressed she continued to look into the Dates that lay out before the Sargent, going to the library after school. No one questioned it and her other grades seemed to benefit from it as well, so her parents left her alone about it.

As summer vacation approached again Dorothea went back to the expedition article that had started this and reread it. The date resurfaced in her mind, steady and bright and in a snow storm. That was new. She blinked and shook her head and looked out the window for good measure. Still sunny and hot and humid. She swallowed hard and looked back down at the article, almost accusatory, reading it had made her see Dates last time, was she goes to see weather after reading it this time? She quickly dropped the report and moved away from it as fast as she could. 

She could not handle it if she started to randomly space out and see the wrong weather when she saw the Date in her mind, what if it happened at school! The Captain’s Date suddenly flashed back to the front of her mind and she brought her hands up to cover her eyes, but nothing changed this time, her room remained. She thought of the Date again and again and again just to make sure, and nothing changed. She ran a hand down her face and paused it at her mouth and then picked one of the Sargent’s Dates at random. Glass and ice crystals was all she could see for a moment and then her room was back. She slid down the wall and picked another date, nothing, then another date, still nothing, then a third date, and still nothing. She took in a shaky breath and looked back at the article. Maybe it was only once per person? And really, who normally gets more than once chance at life anyway, right?

She put the article away in her closet, hopefully to forget about it so that nothing new would pop up with what ever this was she was seeing.

The summer passed and the SI expedition published their findings, or more precisely, lack there of, and the summer went on. Dorothea continued going to the library under the pretense of escaping the summer heat, but still reading about the Howling Commandos and their Captain and Sargent. 

The summer, following school year, the next summer, and the school year after that all went by with nothing out of the ordinary happening and by the time ‘Thea was 17 she’d pretty much figured out what was going on with herself. She wasn’t sure what people like her were called, but this ability she had marked her as different. She was certain that the Dates that were floating around in her mind were the Dates that Captain Rogers would come back to life or in the case of Sargent Barnes had come back to life repeatedly. The snowscape and ice covered glass she’d seen when she was 14 had been vague location hints. Though she didn’t understand the glass at all. The snowscape though, she knew exactly where it was. So exactly she knew the latitude and longitude. She’d even tried to anonymously contact SI and suggest that they check there. She’d been utterly shut down every way she’d tried, she’d never even been able to get the coordinates out to tell anyone.

Not that it mattered, Captain Rogers’ Date was burning brighter in her mind the closer it got. The last Date for Sargent Barnes was also getting brighter, but it was still a few years off, he seemed to be “dead” again, whatever that meant. She would have to look into again the next time she went to the library.

The Date came and went and there was nothing reported on the news, nothing on social media, and ‘Thea sat there staring at the family computer. Her connection to Captain Rogers gone because his Date had passed. She was positive that it meant that he had been found alive, and made the mistake of saying so to her parents that night at dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Priam looked at their daughter and then looked at each other.

“Honey, that expedition has been going on for nearly 70 years, they are never going to find him, and certainly not alive, it’s impossible,” her mother said, not unkindly. Her father looks strangely at her, a look she can’t quite place because she’s never seen him use it before. In a few more years she’ll see it again and know what it means, but for now it remains a mystery.

It’s nearly two weeks later when Captain Rogers is spotted breaking out of a building in New York City and making a mad dash to Times Square before stopping dead in his tracks, eyes wide in shock at the world around him. ‘Thea feels her heart go out to him in empathy. She misses the pseudo connection she felt she had to him while she had the Date in her mind. As she watches the news a new Date, dim and barely there, drifts to the back of her mind.


	2. There are Dangers in the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one knows what to think the day the dark hole in the sky opens over New York City and actual aliens descend from it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dorothea is 17 and a senior in high school when the Battle of New York happens.

Cassandra - chapter 2 - There are Dangers in the Sky

~when your truth can never be their truth~

No one knows what to think the day the dark hole in the sky opens over New York City and actual aliens descend from it.

Dorothea had kicked her desk not long after school had started when a new Name, P. Coulson, Date and location (why Tahiti?) had sprung into her head. Her teacher had scolded her for dozing off in class. Face burning red in embarrassment, 'Thea didn't try to correct him. He wouldn't have believed her anyway, her parents certainly hadn't when the Captain's Date had originally formed in her mind.

Now, though, all of the news stations were on Emergency Reports, not unlike September 2001. Many of the teachers where talking about it and making comparisons. Though how you compare an alien invasion with flying whale monsters was something that was apparently beyond 'Thea's teenage self.

Several names had flickered in and out of her mind since the hole had opened, all of them the same, but the Dates were different. It was getting to be a little overwhelming for her. 

Captain Rogers was there, one of the news cameras had already spotted his shield and a Date had flashed and faded for him. He must have just barely missed getting hit, she was relieved that he was staying safe, or as safe as possible as one could while fighting aliens. 

Iron Man was there, A. Stark, of course lived in New York. The Dates didn't seem to know what to do for him, they were sparking across her mind like a super computer running possibilities. Maybe he was just being that stupid about his own safety? She pressed her hands to the sides of her head and hoped that he would start to be more careful sooner rather than later for his own sake. With the way she had been shut down when she'd tried to get the coordinates for Captain Rogers to SI, she knew that Stark had zero idea who she was, let alone what was going on in her head. Not that he would have believed her if she had been able to get through. 

There was a N. Romanova who only had one Date, very early on in the fighting and if 'Thea hadn't already been paying attention she's sure she would have missed it, because of how quickly it had faded.

There weren't any other names until one reporter gasped and said that the Hulk was on scene and had just punched one of the whale monsters in the face, stopping it dead, maybe literally, in it's tracks. That's when all of the members of what would later be known as the Avengers were caught on camera, standing in a circle, backs in fronts out, ready to fight.

The Captain seemed to direct everyone and it was back into the fight.

The cameras watched as someone, not Iron Man, flew to the top of a building and then watched as huge lightning bolts first struck it and then arced out and struck the aliens coming through the hole in the sky. 'Thea wondered what kind of person could control lightning and have no Date associate to them after.

C. Barton had a Date momentarily appear and then fade in her mind and 'Thea found that she wished she could see more of what was happening. Knowing that Captain Rogers and his new friends where in danger and where clearly having life or death moments was not good for her ever mounting anxiety. The reporters and their cameras where never where she wanted them to be. She was starting to not just press her hands to the sides of her head, but dig her finger tips into her scalp as well as she watched the tv in front of her and the Dates roll across her mind.

By now no one in 'Thea's school was even trying to do anything other than watch the news. Students and teachers were bouncing between classrooms looking for a news station that was showing something different, or the station that their family preferred most often at home. 'Thea had ended up in her History classes room, her teachers for that subject always a bit more lenient with her since her freshman year when it had gotten around that it became her favorite subject.

Sometimes being different had slight advantages, like the teacher keeping the other kids from bothering her when she put her head down, not wanting to watch anymore. Not with a new Date getting ever brighter for A. Stark. Did that mean Iron Man was going to die? It had to mean he was going to die, but since he had a Date he would come back. She'd figure out why everyone was going to Tahiti later to come back, it wasn't important now, it just meant that they got to come back someplace nice, and after a fight like this that's all that mattered.

"Iron Man just caught a missile!" one of her classmates screamed, and she jerked her head up. As her eyes focused on the screen she watched with the rest of the class, and the country, and quite possibly the world, as Iron Man guided the missile into the hole in the sky.

Nothing happened for a moment and then the hole started to close, a cheer went up throughout the school, her classmates where all hugging and jumping, but 'Thea stayed in her seat and watched as the explosion from the missile could be seen.

Someone else took notice and said, "wait, where's Iron Man!"

The whole classroom fell silent so quickly it was almost erie. All of their attention was on the TV again, and after a moment a small red dot fell through the hole just before it closed all the way. Sighs of relief sounded, but were short lived when people realized that Iron Man wasn't catching himself.

For 'Thea though the moment A. Stark had come back through the hole the Date had started to fade, and by the time the Hulk had slammed into him, caught him and then gotten him, relatively, safely to the ground, the date was gone altogether.

"He's dead!" one of her classmates said.

"It's not his time," 'Thea said without thinking, loud enough for the whole class to hear. Her mind ground to a halt when she realized she'd said it out loud, but the only thing that gave her own surprise away was a momentary widening of her eyes.

"How on Earth would you know Priam? History is your thing, not the future. You're just trying to sound cool. News flash for you, you're not and you won't ever be. So you can shut your face and quit you're lying now," one of the boys in the room said.

The teacher opened his mouth to say something, but 'Thea was able to make a discrete gesture to stop him. Teacher intervention for something like this never helped in the long run. She was used to being called a liar, her truth would never be their truth. 

She looked away from the rest of the class and back to the TV just as the Hulk was bellowing, and the rest of the class turned back too, the reporter saying that it appeared that Tony Stark had jerk awake and was talking to "this new Captain America, the man with the cape and the Hulk."

'Thea felt a chill run up her spine as the rest of the kids in the class partially turned to look at her. Almost all of them giving her strange looks.

"It was just good timing on your part, that doesn't change anything," the same boy said.

School was let out early after that, no one able to concentrate on school work after what had been on the news. Alien invasion and all. 

As is always somehow the case in high school, word of what 'Thea had said had gotten around like lightning and her classmates where already slinging insults at her as she left the school rounds for home.

College would be a welcome relief because no one would know her, or her past Howling Commando obsession, or about this now. And she was sure this would be a /thing/ the rest of the school year.

It certainly was when she got home, her father already knowing about it. He only asked a few questions, and he didn't press, but he certainly knew that she'd said something in class that it hadn't been Stark's time yet. He gave her a look that she'd only seen once before, when Captain Rogers had gone running into Time Square. He didn't trust her. He thought she was lying about all of this too.

Dorothea has decided college in Virginia will be a good idea. At least it will put he closer to the Sargent's final Date.


	3. His Final Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spring break of Dorothea's freshman year of college comes and instead of going home or going on some wild vacation with friends to some sun lit beach, she spends time in Washington DC with her parents.   
> They've come down to visit for the first time since they moved her into the dorms and her mother wanted to see the Captain America and the Howling Commandos exhibit that had opened at the Smithsonian.

Cassandra - chapter 3 - His Final Date

~even when no one else believes you, there comes a time when you have to start believing yourself~

Spring break of Dorothea's freshman year of college comes and instead of going home or going on some wild vacation with friends to some sun lit beach, she spends time in Washington DC with her parents. They've come down to visit for the first time since they moved her into the dorms and her mother wanted to see the Captain America and the Howling Commandos exhibit that had opened at the Smithsonian.

'Thea does want to see it, her fascination with the Commandos still strong from her childhood, but at the same time, fear spikes through her. What if she says something, out loud, about Sargent Barnes' final Date, or that he isn't as dead as the world believes he is? Her relationship with her father is already on tenterhooks from the last two times she's said something out loud.

She manages to get them to go to almost every other museum in the city before her mother says something.

"Are you saving the best for last, darling? I remember how much you used to love the Howling Commandos when you were younger."

Her father is walking a bit ahead of them and he pauses and glances behind to look at her.

"Why else would we hit every other one first? Just building the anticipation, make it more exciting when we get there, you know?" 'Thea smiled at her mother, hooking an arm through her mothers, who smiled and and shook her head.

"Still the little girl that loved those crazy Commandos," she said, and let it drop at that.

'Thea felt the back of her neck go cold, her anxiety going up a bit. She was not going to be able to keep her mouth shut. Today was not going to end well no matter what she did.

She managed to stall going until the end of the week, playing up the 'saving the best for last' thing. Her mother playing along with her while her father tried to go to the Air and Space museum every time they were close to it. 

When they finally got their tickets and went into the exhibit hall, 'Thea tried to stay closer to her mother as they walked around and looked at all of the displays. Her mother had humored her more when she'd been younger with her Howling Commando history kick. 

When they got to the display that showed how small Captain Rogers had been prior to the serum her mother laughed and pointed at the text next to it.

"You would have been shorter than Steve Rogers even when he was little, sweety," she teased.

'Thea rolled her eyes but smiled, "I'm as tall as you are you know, so you would have been smaller than Captain Rogers, too."

A tall man with a dark blue baseball cap on shifted not too far away from where they where standing and the motion caught 'Thea's attention. She tilted her head slightly to one side before her mother got her attention again.

"He's not here, you don't have to be so formal all the time, Dorothea. You're allowed to call him Steve. If you listen to everyone else here, how many of them do you think will be calling him Captain Rogers?" Her mother didn't say it unkindly, but it was something that she brought up every now and then.

"Only those who've served probably call him that. You'll never serve so there's no point," her father cut in as he moved closer to them. This was also part of the old conversation. 

'Thea shifted her weight from one foot to the other and rubbed the back of her neck, looking away from her parents, and to the man int he hat, just for a moment, before she looked down and said, "just because I won't enlist doesn't mean I can't show respect."

The man in the hat was definitely eavesdropping on her families conversation, 'Tea was sure of it, but she couldn't figure out why he would care. People probably had similar conversations all the time, right?

Her mother moved away, catching her elbow and pulling her along. They passed the man in the hat, and while 'Thea wanted to try to glance up, she also didn't want to draw any more unwanted attention. She sighed and let her mother steer her along.

They stopped and looked at the uniforms that the Howling Commandos wore.

"The Captain's and the Sargent's are probably spare uniforms since they both were lost for so long," 'Thea said to her mother, who patted her arm but said nothing. 'Thea wanted to slap her hand to her face. The Sargent's Date hadn't passed by yet, so he was still in limbo for all she knew. She glanced to the side where she thought her father was, but it was the capped man instead. From what she caught of his face she knew he found her choice of words odd for both men.

Her father made a noise from the other side of her mother and 'Thea jerked her head around to look at him. He was giving her an annoyed look. 

"Only Steve Rogers was lost for so long," he said lowly, "how many times do I have to tell you that." The tone of his voice was a clear indicator that if she tried to say anything that could 'cause a scene' that it would not end well for 'Thea.

Shoulders slumping, 'Thea turned to follow her father, her mother right next to her. They were silent as they moved to the next display. 

Head still slightly hung low, 'Thea glanced over her shoulder, the capped man was just turning away from the uniform display to follow them. She turned her head back around and looked at the ground, following her mother. She wondered if the man was upset with what he'd heard her say. She hoped not, she didn't want some stranger to come up to her after they left and tell her off.

When her mother stopped and tugged her arm, 'Thea returned attention to what was in front of her and saw what the next display was. 'JAMES BUCHANAN "BUCKY" BARNES' The Date came to the front of her mind again, a location in Washington DC. This day was just going to end badly for 'Thea, she could feel it.

Her mother was reading the text on the sign out loud while the recorded voice was also speaking near them. The closer the recording got to mentioning Sargent Barnes' "death," the stiffer 'Thea's shoulders got. Her mother had already pulled away from her to read everything better, so 'Thea didn't have to worry about explaining what she was tensing up, just yet.

That's when the recording said, "Bucky Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life for his country."

Just like when 'Thea had had to ask why the expedition report had said that they still had not found Captain Rogers, 'Thea opened her mouth and said, "but why does it say that Sargent Barnes is the only Howling Commando that died for his country?"

'Thea could feel the blood draining form her own face after she'd said it. It hadn't been that loud, only her parents had probably heard her, but she still quickly glanced around to see if that man with the cap was still around. He was, and he was closer than she'd thought he was. His head was angled so that she couldn't see his face past the brim of the hat. He'd heard, oh gods, he'd heard.

"I'm sure that they put this together after they found..." but Mrs. Priam didn't get to finish her sentence because her husband had moved past her and caught ahold of 'Thea's arm and was just about dragging her out of the exhibit, without actually looking like he was dragging her out of the exhibit.

When they got outside, Mr. Priam took 'Thea over to one side of the main doors that had less people milling around and then spun her to look at him. He looked furious. 

"Enough! First you say that 'it's not the Captain's time' and then you tell your tell your classmates that Stark's not dead because 'it's not his time' when the world watches him fall from a whole in the sky! What ever it is you're doing you need to stop!" He's not shouting, that would draw too much attention, but it also makes it so much worse. He's very nearly snarling at 'Thea as he speaks, and she's so focused on her father that she almost missed the man in the cap as he slowly walked just into her field of field of vision. What was his problem?

"What is your problem, Dorothea? Are you even listening to me?" her father snapped, literally snapped his fingers at her face. "What are you doing that has you saying these things and then people are coming back from the dead? I can reasonably understand Stark being a fluke, no one will ever know if he was actually dead when he fell out of the hole in the sky, but Rogers? Gone for nearly 70 years when they found him. I don't care what the news said about the serum, it's not natural. I know you remember what you said, and I know you know it was wrong, what ever it was you did to that man. Don't do it to Barnes too, what ever it is your doing," he all but hissed at the end.

'Thea wants to say that she's not doing anything, that the Dates appeared to her when she first read about both men, and that more dates appeared and faded during the Battle of New York. It was unbearable the way they sparked across her mind. None stayed, even P. Coulson's date was shortly after the battle ended, and she still hadn't been able to find any information on who that was. She certainly wasn't the one bringing anyone back from the dead, for all she knew the dead were strong will enough to come back on their own.

She couldn't say any of that though, not in public when her father was already visibly angry, and that anger was only ratcheting up the longer she stayed silent. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out, and she started to really panic. She needed to say something, this was only going to get worse if she didn't.

"Only God has the power to bring people back from the dead, dear. Are you implying that our daughter is God?"

'Thea stared, open mouthed at her mother while her father tried to argue the point for another moment. He wouldn't win, he never did when he couldn't get the jump on his wife's train of thought. 'Thea didn't know when she'd picked up on it, but her mother was pretty good at getting people to do what she wanted and you would never know it. She would have her father calmed down soon enough and they would leave, dropping 'Thea back at her dorm before they headed home. Yes the ride would be extremely tense, but her father wouldn't bring it up again.

She glanced around again, to see if anyone else had been looking at them while her father had been all but yelling at her, and saw the the man in the cap had moved off some, but that he still had his head turned just enough that one of his ears was facing them. He was looking up and down at a tourist map in his hands though, and surely he was too far away now to still hear anything. 'Thea sighed in relief, she wouldn't have to deal with an angry stranger after all.

\---

'Thea's freshman year of college ended and instead of going home over the summer she got a job at a small business in the DC area. The commute isn't that bad and the pay is enough for rent and food. 

She's just crawling into bed after a long day when N. Fury, a Date and location appear in her mind. She groans and pulls the pillow out from under her head and then puts it over her face. She didn't want another name she didn't know. Why couldn't it have just stayed the Captain and the Sargent? Their names and Dates had seemed so uncomplicated to her when she was younger. The repercussions of this thing she has, as she gets older, just worry her more and more.

She pulled the pillow from her face and looked at her watch. The time on the digital face blinking from 11:59pm to 12:00am, and just like that Sargent Barnes' Date was gone from her mind.

'Thea sat bolt upright. How had she let time get away from her? She was out of bed and across her room to the map on her wall faster than she would have thought possible a moment ago. Where had it been? The location that the Sargent was supposed to wake up? The frost covered glass didn't float to her mind again the way she'd wanted it to, but she continued to search the map.

It was nearly 3:00am when she slid down the wall to the floor, dejected at never having gotten a solid location for Sargent Barnes the way she had for Captain Rogers. They way Tahiti seemed to pop up for almost everyone else. N. Fury didn't seem to want to wake up in Tahiti though, but she didn't care about that at the moment.

She hauled herself back up and went back to her bed, a sense of loss filling her. The Sargent's final date had been with her so long, and now that day had come and she felt nothing. Just like with Captain Rogers, the pseudo connection she'd felt was gone.

Now exhausted, 'Thea drifted off to thoughts of the Captain and the Sargent meeting again.

The following day news stations were reporting about a stolen car that the police were chasing, the level of aggression to stop the suspect though had a lot of people wondering just what the hell was going on. Especially after a man in a mask launched something at the vehicle in question and cause it to flip over.

The following day while 'Thea was at work, the morning news reported that someone had attacked Captain America's home. Everyone in the shop was talking about it after that, but 'Thea kept on what she was doing. No new Date had appeared for Captain Rogers, and N. Fury's Date had flared brightly as if it would become a fact, that his death had in fact happened, but then vanished, so she didn't worry about it. Who ever he was, he might have known the Captain, and if that's true then Captain Rogers probably took care of him.

Things in the city seemed normal after that for a few days, and no one thought anything of the momentary excitement after it was over.

'Thea though, 'Thea had to think about it because S. Rogers and N. Romanova had both appeared in her mind at the same time but their Dates were very different and neither of them would be coming back in Tahiti. She didn't want to think about that change. Just as quickly as their Dates had sprung into her mind they were gone again. 'Thea was relieved that they were still alive. 

During her next shift one of her co-workers was talking about the car chase, now several days past, and when she came up to him he turned to her and showed her a photo of the suspect. It was grainy, but not security camera grainy, and 'Thea wondered where it came from, but that thought wasn't at the forefront of her mind. That space was taken up by the sudden urge to say that this man was not dead. 

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she looked up at her co-worker and asked, "who is he?"

The man looked at her for a moment and snorted, "right, you probably didn't hear what I was saying, always in your own little world, huh Dorothea? This is the driver of that black SUV the cops were chasing the other day. The guy I got this from from said his name was something Fury."

The customer her co-worker had been talking to chimed in, saving 'Thea from replying, "did they catch him? I heard he wasn't in the car after it flipped."

Her co-worker nodded, "yea, they got him. Heard they didn't get him alive though. Can't figure out why it wasn't on the news after a car chase like that, though."

Both men nodded to each other, like it was nothing to talk about people dying, and maybe it wasn't with the wars going on in the Middle East, and everything else the news decided people needed to know. 'Thea, though, did not want to be a part of this conversation. The hair on her neck was still standing on end, and she still felt like she was going to say something out loud the way she had at the Smithsonian. They wouldn't believe her, but it wasn't something she wanted to try to explain.

As she was turning to leave the customer said, "what do you think, 'Thea? Do you think the cops really killed him, or he got away and that's why the news hasn't said anything yet?"

She wanted to hang her head because she knew that if she opened her mouth she wasn't going to be able to stop herself from saying that he was still alive, but she couldn't stop as she turned back around, her back ram-rod straight. It was like she was watching a slow motion train wreck.

"Fury's still alive."

Both men stared at her for a moment, different expressions on their faces. The customer looked like he wanted to laugh at how serious she'd said it, and her co-worker had an unreadable expression. His normally joking demeanor gone for a moment before he shook his head and smiled.

"You're so full of it, 'Thea. There’s no way he's still alive." 

The attack on the Triskelion happened not even an hour later. Everyone in the shop staring at the TV in disbelief as the building at the three Helicarriers went down, and then all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA information was discovered dumped onto the internet. ‘Thea didn’t know it, and would never know it, but what Natasha had told Pierce had been right, all that information was trending, and ‘Thea was reading it. Looking for any mention of the Sargent she could to see why he had had so many resurrection dates.

Her answer horrified her. The man in all black, with the alleged metal arm WAS Sargent Barnes if these reports were accurate, and he’d had so many resurrection dates because they had kept freezing him whenever he hadn’t been needed. Like putting away a toy or something that had temporarily served its purpose and then been shelved. 

She put her head in her hands and cried. The Sargent deserved better!

But now what was she supposed to do? She’d had this connection to Sargent Barnes for so long and now there were no dates left, it didn’t look like he would be dying anytime soon and she felt adrift. She glanced back at her computer and stopped scrolling through the search on all the leaked HYRDA intel and turned away from her computer. Though if she’d scrolled just a little bit farther she might have seen a familiar face…and not in a good way.

She continued on with her life, connections now lost to both of the men out of time. She wondered if any more dates would pop up in her mind, or if that was it now that things seemed to be settled again? Though they had been pretty settled the first time when she’d picked up that SI report…


End file.
